Courses Courses

Intended to introduce students to art history through the study of major art concepts, theories, and historical events from the ancient Greek and Roman periods to Europe of the Enlightenment. The approach is both chronological and thematic. Offered fall.

Covers major movements and ideas in European and American art and design history to the mid-20th century. Students are provided with a firm grounding in the debates and theories of modernity and modernism in art. Prerequisite ACD 103. Offered spring.

Examines influential artists and related concepts of art and design from around WWII through the first decade of the new millennium. Discussions focus especially on critical distinctions and meanings of modern, postmodern, and contemporary art, design, and visual culture. Prerequisites ACD 103 and 104. Offered fall.

The primary goal of this course is to explore the art and culture of China (including mainland China and Taiwan). Political, religious, social, and visual aspects of the art will be stressed in class. In order to understand Chinese art and civilization, we will look at art objects from terra-cotta pottery of the Neolithic period, bronze vessels, Buddhist murals and sculptures of the Tang era, literati paintings and imperial tastes of medieval China up to contemporary art. Subjects such as women artists and performing arts will be also discussed in this course. As the semester progresses, some additional readings may be assigned. Visual Culture Emphasis course.

This lecture/discussion-style course is to explore the art and visual culture of East Asia, focusing on Japan and China. Political, religious, social, and visual aspects of the art will be stressed in class. In order to understand art and civilization of these two countries, we will look at art objects from ancient archeological objects, medieval architecture, to modern and contemporary art. Subjects such as women artists, performing arts and animation will be also discussed in this course. Visual Culture Emphasis course.

In this course we explore the fascinating and advanced civilizations that were in existence in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Belize before Western Europe began its voyages of discovery. We study the different cultures from the Olmec to the Aztec with special emphasis on the very sophisticated Maya civilization. Their complex hieroglyphic language has yielded in recent years to decipherment and Maya history has been recreated. We look at their art, architecture and crafts as well as their unique calendars and cosmology. We watch the indigenous American civilization come into being, develop and mature, only to be devastated by the Spanish Conquest. The class involves lectures and discussion. We have a mid-term, a special project or major paper, and a prepared final. The Institute's library is particularly rich in this field and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History also has an interesting collection. Visual Culture Emphasis course. 3 credits.

In this workshop course we will work on developing an understanding of the personal essay as a distinct yet flexible nonfictional genre, one possessing its own characteristics and contours that distinguish it from other literary forms. You will also work in this course on the craft of writing and revising your own personal essays. To these ends, we will be reading a number of works that demonstrate the essay’s protean adaptability. Texts will be drawn from Phillip Lopate’s anthology The Art of the Personal Essay, as well as from other sources, including selected blogs, nonfictional texts by visual artists, as well as the online compilation Quotidiana. (H/CS)(CWC)